Pride Concert at SF Symphony Features LGBTQ Composers

On the eve of the San Francisco Symphony's East Coast tour, which was supposed to include two concerts in North Carolina but were cancelled in response to the state's discriminatory legislation, the orchestra is bringing a little Pride to Davies Symphony Hall.

On April 4th, music director Michael Tilson Thomas and Broadway star Audra McDonald (Ragtime, A Raisin in the Sun, Private Practice) are joining forces to celebrate the Bay Area's unique spirit of inclusion and diversity with a special concert recognizing and supporting the local LGBTQ community.

"This special evening honors the essential contributions that LGBTQ composers have made in shaping the American musical sound," said Thomas. "This concert also offers me the opportunity to express my appreciation for the generous welcome extended to me and my husband Joshua Robison since our arrival here over 20 years ago."

The wide-ranging concert program features the voices of many LGBTQ musical mavericks including Lou Harrison, Henry Cowell, Meredith Monk, and John Cage. Audra McDonald will perform a selection of songs by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Kander and Ebb as well as narrate Aaron Copland's iconic Lincoln Portrait. Concluding the concert is the extraordinary final movement of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1, a work the orchestra will perform in Carnegie Hall later in the week.

Proceeds from Symphony Pride will support organizations that provide services to the Bay Area LGBT communty, including the SF LGBT Center, Larkin Street Youth Services, Transgender Law Center, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and The Trevor Project.